A brain dump about living and working on the edge of the social web.

8 posts from February 2007

February 27, 2007

Ning just relaunched (see techcrunch story). I have to hand it to them... they made a killer app. I've tried different Ning services over the past year or so and wasn't too impressed, but their new focus of EZ social network creation is phenomenal. It truly is EZ.

Here's an example... Some of you may know that I have another blog called "die old" it's about me and my struggles/adventure in losing over 100 pounds. I've found it to be a truly helpful and amazing way to get in shape (though I'm still in the process). By writing every day (as much as possible) and sharing with the world my ups and downs, I am more connected with myself and the process of losing weight than I've ever been. I have a way for me to express myself, journal, and get my frustrations out, plus a community of readers who support me by just showing up.

I've thought seriously about creating a vertical social network that allows people to have and share these same experiences. Ning has made that possible in about 15 minutes. It may not be my final solution, perhaps I'll take funding and build something custom one day, but this sure is a tremendous way to prototype the concept. And then again, it might take off on Ning. After playing with the Ning services, I see very few flaws. It seems they've thought of everything. Besides a couple of bugs that are bing fixed, and it being hammered right now by TechCrunch and probably Digg, the service is stable and speedy.

Check out the die old community. If you are so inclined, join and add me as a friend. Then start using it yourself. You'll get to experience the next wave of social network applications and maybe shed a few pounds in the process. ;)

February 15, 2007

To me StumbleUpon is one of those services that has such tremendous potential to be huge... They introduced Stumble Video as well. It's such a simple but amazing service... StumbleUpon fits so well with del.icio.us and MyWeb too. Think about the social search engine they could build with all of that meta data... I know what I'd do with it.

February 06, 2007

The current print version of Spin Magazine has a list of ten things that will improve the music industry. I can't find the online version, but trust me, it's there. I agree with most of what they say, but I thought I'd bring it down to just 5.

If you know me, you know that I take this subject to heart. I've seen first hand how the music industry shoots itself in the head. The arrogance and the exclusive nature of the entire industry is the main reason why they're in this spot.

CD sales are way down and online sales aren't rising at the same rate that discs are declining. DRM is confusing and a complete hassle. The industry treats its customers like criminals by making music so restrictive. If you're treated like a criminal, then chances are you'll become one. People use online services to sample music and find what they like, then they go and grab the unrestrictive and free file from a file sharing app. It's not that people don't like music, it's that people don't like getting ripped off. They want freedom with their music. They want to hear it whenever and wherever they like. When people buy something, they expect it to be theirs. They expect to own it. Anything else is antithetical people's understanding of commerce.

Here are the 5 things that I think will save music. This isn't directed at anyone in particular, though I suppose labels are the focus more than anything else:

Sell downloads but KILL DRM. And don't just get rid of DRM; provide software to release all previously purchased tracks from their restrictions. BE OPEN.

Release fewer releases - This means that there are fewer artists being signed, that means that the quality of the music should increase, which means that you'll sell more shit and create more longterm artists... fewer choices are actually better...

Sign real songwriters and real musicians - in the long run it's about quality, not image. Dump anyone on your label who can't write their own songs or puts out a cover album.

February 02, 2007

I sincerely love that thing that you do. I know you guys are very busy and probably don't have a lot of time or many assigned resources yet, so here's a favicon I made for you. I thought that you could use it.

February 01, 2007

I've been on this bent for a few years now. Others too, but I think it's worth keeping top of mind as more sites are created and grow.

The One Thing Principle: a method of product development, especially for online or digital businesses, that focuses strictly on one single service that satisfies a perceived market need. The entire domain must be dedicated to offering this single service. All resources must be dedicated to offering this single service. No distractions, no wavering, no feature creep.

Nearly every successful web product has one thing in common. They are all known primarily for one thing. They do one thing very well, they meet user's needs for that one thing, and they become a viable and popular destination because of this focus. That thing is always the first thing that comes to mind when a person thinks of the brand or site. (enough with using "thing" already.) What can you hang your hat on?

The One Thing:

Google = Search

Ebay = Auctions

Flickr = Photo Sharing

PriceGrabber = Comparison Shopping

MySpace = Friends (started as music)

del.ico.us = Bookmarks

Digg = News

Amazon = Online Shopping

Ask = Search

Blogger = Blogging

Wikipedia = Encyclopedia

YouTube = Videos

I can go on, of course. You get the idea. Obviously most of these sites do more than one thing, but they all started out with a single focus, executed on that focus, and became the successes that they are because of that focus. Staying focused on a single concept, no matter what, is key to building a successful online venture.

What about Yahoo? Yahoo! started out with this in mind. It's mission was to become the gateway or directory for everything on the web that mattered. For quite some time, this is all that Yahoo! was about. And it exploded. But soon they began to want to keep the traffic that they were giving away and become the destination for other services under the Yahoo brand; and the portal was born. Email, news, finance, shopping, etc. You can't blame them. It made perfect sense. Attract people by being the guide, but then keep them by offering a Yahoo version of the service or site that the person was seeking. Many of these services were great successes, but then it started getting out of hand... Yahoo! Pets, Yahoo! Living, etc. Focus was lost and that loss of focus spread throughout the organization. This is why many verticals under the Yahoo! brand seem bloated. They do not adhere to the "one thing" principle. Each and every one of them become their own unfocused vertical Yahoo!'s. It's in the culture.

Now I think they recognize this and some recent products reflect this. Yahoo! Answers is a great example. It does one simple thing very very well. But they have to be careful. Flickr, Upcoming, del.icio.us, mybloglog, bix, and their other new and focused properties need to make sure that they keep perfecting that one thing. Yes they can add features as they grow, but single a vision and focus were why they were successful and thus acquired.

I've said in the past that I think it makes sense for Yahoo! to consider spinning off properties or very focused versions of their properties like shopping, autos, travel, local, health, tech, games, music, etc. Allow them to find their own identity and community using Yahoo! resources as support. We'll see. I would make the same suggestion to other portals as well.

I try to work by this principle. It's been a challenge. Without going into it too much, I hope that very soon you'll see that by applying the one thing principle to the product I'm working on, it will blossom. I've never been hesitant to stick my neck out.

Obligatory Introduction

I'm David Beach and this is my blog. I'm a Product Manager, Information Architect, and founder of 12seconds.tv. I work for eBay Mobile. I'm also surviving lung cancer. This site is about my life online and some other junk... enjoy ;)